BUDS & BEADS - BEST FRIENDS IN BUSINESS KEEPING IT REAL AND SHAKING-UP EXPECTATIONS WITH SPARKLING TEAS

By Jo Thomas

What might worklife look like if you defined success as the freedom to be fully yourself?

If your ‘why’ was found having the time of your life with your best mate?

If your brand took shape as a natural expression of stepping into that place of authenticity together?

Happily for best friends of 30 years, Jo Thomas and Karina Barry, embarking on an entrepreneurial journey together into a new world of sparkling teas has been so life changing and life-giving, that they’re dispelling every cautionary ‘what-if’ around going into business with your bestie.

An Australian first, low-sugar, alcohol-free and oh-sogorgeous sparkling teas are the cornerstone of Jo and Karina’s Buds & Beads brand and business partnership. With a lifetime of hospitality and wine industry experience between them, “We’ll admit there was a time it was all about wine,” Karina says. ”But arriving at a place in our lives where what matters most to us is feeling good in ourselves, mind, body and spirit, has led us to make choices that nourish us, and opened us up to new possibilities, personally and professionally.”

The safe space created by their supportive friendship was a constant that carried Jo and Karina through the uncertainty of the pandemic. So in the aftermath, when Jo was left reeling by redundancy and Karina felt held-back by her own hidden struggles with anxiety, the opportunity to embrace a whole new life trajectory together seemed timely. “A Tea Master who supplied my boutique resort, Bells at Killcare, approached me about buying her business and I was excited by the possibility but had to be realistic about my capacity to take it on at that time,” Karina said. “It was only do-able in partnership with my best mate, Jo, whose instinct was that we should explore this together.:

“Karina and I went into this together with our eyes wide open to the ‘what-if’s’ of blurring the lines of our friendship,” Jo says. “Bearing our souls over countless cups of tea and glasses of wine as we’ve journeyed through life together has taken the trust between us so deep that it counterbalances any creative tensions.

For the best friendsturned business partners, contemplative bushwalks became invigorating ‘whatif’ sessions. Daily meditation practice is a discipline that continues to shape business decisions, including connecting with a brand name. “The ‘buds’ are the delicate first flush of Spring growth hand picked for our loose leaf teas, while the ‘beads’ are the stream of fine bubbles that effervesce from our sparkling teas,” Karina says.

The sense of purpose Jo and Karina share is so true to who they are that they’re comfortable with making big business decisions intuitively. “We’ll ask one another, what’s your gut feel on this, and won’t hesitate to go with it,” Karina says. “There’s such joy in allowing ourselves to be guided by instinct.”

All sparkle and no regrets

Where career success in a traditional sense had fallen short of bringing Jo true satisfaction, building from what has real meaning for her has been the key to happiness. “It’s in my nature to build community and really cherish time with friends and family,” Jo says. “Buds & Beads is about engaging with what nurtures me, in every way, from the creative process to cracking that lovely bottle of bubbles to share. It doesn’t feel like work to me, it’s just me being who I am. Being in business with your bestie builds you up and keeps you accountable.”

Jo and Karina’s joie de vivre has struck a chord with women from all walks of life. “My daughter loves switching from cocktails to a sparkling tea later in the evening, so she feels energised the next day. We’re doing a lot of ‘babymoon’ getaways at Bells and couples are loving the option of celebrating with a bottle of bubbles that will only nourish.” Karina says. Pretty, blush-pink Ginger Rose is proving popular by the glass on restaurant menus, and a winemaker has approached the duo about designing something for the range from a bi-product of their production.

Once you get a taste for seriously good tea and start to understand the nuances of terroir and time-honoured methodologies behind each of the seventeen loose leaf blends in the Buds & Beads range, it’s addictive. Tea selection for a table of friends or family becomes every bit as adventurous as choosing which wine to serve. “We’re wild about food pairing with our teas and every blend we’ve selected has a story of origin that makes a great conversation starter,” Karina says.

The nutrient-rich sparkling tea selection includes exotic, non-caffeinated Ginger Rose, a lightly caffeinated and heavenly scented Silver Needles, and the evocatively named Before Rain. Alcohol-free, low in sugar and calories, they’re an indulgence to feel good about.

All Buds & Beads teas are ethically sourced from premium and family-run plantations all over the world, in ways that support local communities to thrive.

“We feel so grateful to start every day now, knowing we’re making a positive impact in the world by doing what fills us up,” Jo says. ”We’ve made the subtle, life altering shift from chasing happiness through success, to finding true success in simply loving doing what brings us happiness.”

Fancy a splash?

Ginger rose

The special occasion choice, Ginger Rose is blush pink in your glass and deliciously crisp with fresh citrus aromas and flavour-bursts of cardamomginger, rose petal, lemon myrtle, hibiscus and zesty lemongrass, Organic ginkgo, turmeric, paw paw leaf and just a hint of liquorice make for moodaltering magic, without the alcohol or sugar hangover.

Silver needles

Pearls of premium, hand- picked, silvery white-tea buds, once reserved for the Chinese Imperial family, are the delicate base of this delightful drop that’s fruit-tingly on the tongue. Simmering salmon-pink in colour it has a juicy rose-petal and natural vanilla finish.

Before rain

Like the scent of rain before a storm, this evocative blend is pale straw in colour and an addictive mingling of nectarlike jasmine pearls, infused in an exotic ritual that involves blanketing the tea leaves with jasmine buds that open

An all-inclusive, immersive experience, to rejuvenate and reignite purpose.

Strengthen your intuition and learn liberating ways to manage competing demands.

Learn, explore, and network in a stunning natural setting with like-minded professionals bittersweet dark-chocolatewhiskey flavours and chewy texture make this a not-soguilty pleasure by a crackling fireplace, or cracking into a velvety crème brulee.

The darkness enveloped me, muffling my screams for help. My mask of confidence hid the despair within. Each morning, I faced a long day ahead, knowing that evenings were distant memories , and upon arrival would speed by quickly, presenting me with another endurance test in the form of a ‘day’. My athletic career was over, and my strength to walk, gone. I was spiralling into oblivion, with answers as to why eluding me. This is the stark reality for those of us in the grips of an eating disorder.